"I
wanted to know how aspects of spelling, grammar and punctuation can be used to
predict a child's writing ability and compositional writing quality in the
middle and upper primary school years," Mrs Daffern said.

"My
research showed that spelling, grammar and punctuation jointly contributed to
compositional writing by as much as 43 per cent.

"Spelling
was found to be the main predictor of compositional writing while punctuation was
not an influential independent predictor."

Mrs
Daffern also sought to explore the influence of gender and age in terms of
compositional writing. The research showed that spelling is a significant
predictor of writing success for both males and females, regardless of age.

The
research has highlighted the importance of teaching spelling in primary schools
and Mrs Daffern hopes it will be useful to teachers.

"This
research has confirmed the importance of teaching spelling in the middle and
upper primary school years, not just in the early years of schooling," Mrs
Daffern said.

"I
also hope this research motivates teachers to encourage proof reading and
editing of language convention errors in their classrooms, as well as
encouraging other important elements of writing such as vocabulary precision
and text cohesion. It also shows that they should not adjust their instruction
on the basis of gender when teaching language conventions and compositional
writing."

Mrs Daffern recently presented her findings at
international conferences in Cyprus and Hungary. She is currently completing her
PhD, An examination of spelling acquisition in the middle and upper primary school years, under the supervision of Dr Noella Mackenzie and Dr Brian Hemmings.